This week it came to the attention of Sligo Tidy Towns that many of the restoration projects they have undertaken in recent months and years in the Doorly Park area had been vandalised.

These included the Doorly Park pedestrian bridge, which was painstakingly restored and re-fitted by Sligo Tidy Towns and Sligo County Council Parks Department in May 2016.

An original feature of the bridge, a carved lion’s head, had been spray-painted over.

Similarly, benches that were erected in the area were also covered with spray-paint.

But the most deplorable act was the desecration of the ‘Memory Stone’ along the lakeside walkway at Doorly Park, which was erected by the North-West Hospice in conjunction with Sligo County Council Parks Department as a mark of respect and remembrance to those lost to cancer.

The spraypainted lion's head on Doorly Park Pedestrian Bridge

These acts of graffiti are an affront to the hard work and dedication employed by so many in the local community to restore and enhance our town, and to the work of Sligo County Council and Sligo Tidy Towns.

Although very disappointed by this incident, Sligo Tidy Towns Committee remain undaunted in their efforts to keep Sligo tidy.